This date in sports history: May 31 | TribLIVE.com - TribLIVE

1927 — Detroit first baseman Johnny Neun records an unassisted triple play in the ninth inning to end the 1-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. Neun grabs a Homer Summa line drive, tags Charlie Jamieson at first and outruns Glenn Myatt to tag second.

1938 — Henry Armstrong beats Barney Ross for the world welterweight title.

1942 — Sam Snead wins the PGA Championship, beating Jim Turnesa, 2 and 1, in the final round.

1949 — Sam Snead wins the PGA Championship, defeating Johnny Palmer, 3 and 2, in the final round.

1965 — Jim Clark becomes the first non-U.S. driver in 49 years to win the Indianapolis 500.

1983 — The Philadelphia 76ers win the NBA championship with a 115-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a four-game sweep.

1987 — The Edmonton Oilers win their third Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, in Game 7.

1992 — Ayrton Senna wins his fourth consecutive Monaco Grand Prix to end Nigel Mansell’s season-opening winning streak at five races.

1997 — Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a regular-season professional baseball game, in the sixth inning of the St. Paul Saints’ Northern League game against Sioux Falls. She struggles, giving up three earned runs without getting an out.

2001 — Pat Day becomes the third jockey to reach 8,000 wins by guiding Camden Park to a one-length victory on the turf in the sixth race at Churchill Downs. The 47-year-old Day trails only Laffit Pincay Jr. (9,147) and Bill Shoemaker (8,833).

2002 — Jason Kidd becomes the first player in 35 years to record three triple-doubles in an NBA playoff series, and the New Jersey Nets finish off the Boston Celtics with a 96-88 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. He joins Oscar Robertson (1963) and Wilt Chamberlain (1967) as the only players with three triple-doubles in a series.

2007 — LeBron James scores a career playoff-high 48 points to lead Cleveland to a 109-107, Game 5 win over Detroit in two overtimes. James is the first player to score 25 straight points for a team in the postseason while scoring 29 of the Cavaliers’ final 30 points.

2008 — Usain Bolt sets the world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. Bolt is .02 seconds faster than the old record held by fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell.

2009 — Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten run at the French Open ends when the four-time defending champion loses to Robin Soderling of Sweden, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2), in the fourth round. Nadal’s record winning streak at Roland Garros ends at 31 matches.

2009 — Stephen Cardullo sets a tournament record with seven hits, including three of Florida State’s NCAA-record 15 doubles, as the Seminoles routs Ohio State, 37-6, to advance to the super regionals.

2011 — Austrian player Daniel Koellerer is been banned for life by a tennis anti-corruption unit for attempting to fix matches. Koellerer, who was ranked No. 55 in 2009, is found guilty of three violations of the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program between October 2009 and July 2010.

2012 — Kevin Durant scores 22 points, Thabo Sefolosha sets playoff career-bests with 19 points and six steals and the Oklahoma City Thunder snap San Antonio’s 20-game winning streak by beating the Spurs, 102-82, in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

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